The data base for carrying out a study on the potential contributions to be expected from various social programs in improving the quality of life of 70-year-olds has recently been completed. The specific aim of the proposed project is to prepare comprehensive summaries of each of the 1,000 lives included in this data base and review each life to identify the critical factors determining the individual's quality of life and the specific possible social programs that could have made a major improvement in the quality of life of this individual. The comprehensive summaries will contain virtually all of the information contained in the 110-page structured interview booklet in a standard narrative form seven to ten pages in length. Their availability will greatly expedite the review of each life by several individuals to insure the validity of the new understandings and insights drawn from the three- to five-hour interview with each 70-year-old. The values of the study proposed is well illustrated by the very important results achieved from a comparable intensive study of the lives of a representative national sample of 30-year-olds. Although the findings from the initial analysis of this unique data base on 70-year-olds clearly stand as a valuable contribution on their own, the systematic study of each individual's present status and past history can be expected to provide new and important understandings and insights. The availability of this information will be of great value both as an addition to knowledge regarding aging and the aged and also as a valuable aid to policy planners, service providers, and elderly persons in general.